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Farsight Book

Our Will

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Balance Between Spiritual and Carnal Goals

Obviously living on the negative extreme is bad. Living on the positive extreme feels unattainable, so we resort to finding balance. Is that what we mean? Hope not… That sounds like something God would spit out (lukewarm).

Liberal vs conservative… We should be in the middle? Maybe, but only because that’s where we can serve God best, or where God can use us best to advance his kingdom. But it’s not about getting the best RoI.

Spiritual vs carnal… Should we be in the middle?

Financially wealthy vs poor… In the middle? Is it as simple as giving enough to offset our comforts? Is that the balance we should seek?

The “Blessings” of Family and Earthly Posessions

Corey talked about it. “If this pastor thing fell apart, I should feel fine. Look at how blessed I am. My life is rich because of my family.” I also feel rich, but I’m trying to look at things from an eternal perspective. We can enjoy things in this life, but we are each being pulled to a place where the presence of God will make all of these earthly riches and “blessings” feel so irrelevant. That’s tough to say, but it’s the reality. So then, how should we think of our family? My 2 year old daughter? My 7 year old? My 14 year old? My wife? My parents? My sister? I must get to the point where I can see them how God sees them… As precious people that He wants in his presence during eternity. How is that different from how I see them today?

So I want challenge the idea that we should regard our own family higher than anyone else. All are equally precious to God. Jesus illustrated this when he answered the people who said “your mother and brothers are outside.”

Our Free Will

God gave us free will, or the ability to choose between loving him and or not. And he’s all-knowing, so even though he gives us the “ability to choose”, he knows already every decision we will make. To put this into today’s context, it’s as if we have watched a movie 10 times. The first time, we enjoyed the movie with new eyes, appreciating every conversation, attitude, decision and outcome without any fore-knowledge. The next few times, we might still want to plead with a character to make a better choice, knowing what’s about to happen to them, but they do what you know they will do anyways. By the 10th time, you almost have the lines memorized, but you might still lament the outcomes and wish to go back and rewrite the script.

Maybe it’s like a computer simulation of the spread of a virus through a petri dish. The simulation can run in 1 second with a powerful computer, even though the actual spread might take 48 hours. The simulation allows the scientist to see the entire 48 hours in one second.

The Role of the Holy Spirit

What is gods perspective on the role of the HS in our lives once we accept him and receive the HS?

His Creation and Our Temporal Existence

I’ve heard gods temporal perspective described as viewing a tapestry. Every moment in time, viewed at once as if seeing a tapestry hung on a wall.

Our Correction

So why does God bother to correct us? It the answer found in some of the early ideas of predetermination? God has chosen those he will save?

Job

God had an actual conversation with Satan!? God offered Job up to Satan like a social experiment?! If I have a carnal perspective, this story feels very unfair. If this life is all there is, it feels unjust that God would allow suffering, and incurably I just that he would invite it!!!!

Basically, thanks to God, Job lost all he had worked for, lost his family and friends, lost his comfort and his ability to provide for himself. – thanks to God’s little worm, Jonah lost his shade tree and got sunburn.

Giving People What They Want, Even When its Bad

Was he giving in and giving up? Or was he proving a painful object lesson?

Persecution

Our perspective is that we must avoid persecution, or that it’s someone else’s job to suffer. That’s an American thing. Comfort is our goal and deity. But our eternal God sees our lives as temporary and NOT the goal. So if our lives are temporary and comfort is NOT the goal, then why should persecution be viewed as negative? Further, if persecution reveals intentions in such a pure way, why would God lament it if we were to endure it? He doesn’t and even included it in the Bible. We are told that persecution is coming, and that persecution is a good thing. God endorses persecution. He approves of it! He WANTS it. So, if our attitude is to avoid persecution, could that attitude be rebellious and sinful?

Almost Annihilating The Human Race in the Flood

Did God see the human race as one unit, and was the flood an act of mercy to save the human race?

Execution of Jesus or Stephen

What was Jesus and Stephens perspectives?

Earthly life is temporary.

Earthly death is not an earth-shattering event, though we lock on death and treat it as the climax. Jesus perspective was forgiveness. His gaze was on the lowly humans who were so misguided and confused that they ended his life. Stephen had a similar perspective. As they took his earthly life, he had such a firm grasp on eternity that his attention was on his fellow humans who still had not acquired that perspective.

We view our earthly lives as our most precious possession. We consider this life as our reality. And why wouldn’t we? This is all we have ever experienced.

But God knows the truth.

Petitions Through Prayer

I’ve heard preacher’s say we treat God like a celestial bellboy.

Do we treat God like a waiter at a restaurant?

Jesus came to serve, not be served.

God probably sees our requests like a child asking for something in the checkout line.

Non-Mainstream Christian Flavors (eg Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses)

Church Denominations

Refiner’s Fire

We often despise or avoid the refiner’s fire.

God’s refining fire could be this life. We are being tried and our impurities are bring separated out.

If we resist the fire now, we are living short sightedly because it’s the whole point of this life.

Esther and Mordecai